 Described in the New York Times as a "remarkably neat building." &amp;nbsp;The Boston Courier reported that it had been "constructed in admirable taste."  

A vivid symbol of the continuity of generations and traditions within the congregation. &amp;nbsp;The synagogue was built with a basement, ten feet high, which was&amp;nbsp;used for housing a chapel, the congregational school, and meeting rooms.  

Poor acoustics and many flights of steps made the grand and stately building difficult to use.&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;  

<p>The women's gallery was reached by a covered passageway from the upper story of the adjoining brick schoolhouse on the north.&nbsp;This passageway was built as a narrow bridge over the space intervening between the schoolhouse and the synagogue, so that in general the space would not be covered in, and when each year the congregational succah was built there the succah's roof could be open to the heavens.&nbsp;</p><p>The new synagogue was built of brick and stone with a surface of Roman cement.&nbsp;</p> 

 The Congregation Shearith Israel, often called The Spanish and Portuguese Synagogue, is the oldest Jewish congregation in the United States. It was established in 1654 in New Amsterdam by Jews who arrived from Dutch Brazil. Until 1825, when Jewish immigrants from Germany established a congregation, it was the only Jewish congregation in New York City. 